Many of the devices for filtering water are extremely large and bulky, and do not provide safety from bacteria and viruses in drinking water. Some of the products that do achieve these goals are for individual or small-scale use, for example, at a faucet or sink. With the growing threat of bacterial and viral content in water, it is necessary to make sure all the water coming into a home is safe. Commercial businesses need even larger volumes of clean water for production and drinking. Public utilities are struggling to provide safe water with an ever-increasing labor cost. Industry needs to be able to filter not only the water that comes in for usage, but to have systems that they can rely on to effectively remove micro-organisms, particles, and molecules for the safe discharge of water into the environment (for example, as mandated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency).
Embodiments of the present invention address the foregoing and other needs. Systems in accordance with such embodiments produce, for example, drinking water having a quality which exceeds conventional and applicable standards in place at the present time.